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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

- Wandered down to Angel and had a coffee while finishing Dan Simmons' Song of Kali. Best horror novel I've read in a long time, which really isn't saying much, but Simmons has a great style which really captures the chaos of Calcutta (as it still was when this was written in 1983), and maintains an ambiguity which never lets the book tip into ridiculousness. Good read.

- Came home and started a sort-out of my clutter-filled life, firstly involving pulling everything out of drawers and off the shelves. In the end I made nothing like the progress I had hoped. File under "developing".

- Frustrated, I went out again to the Lord Clyde pub around the corner and had a bite to eat while starting Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There, which is the only one of his travel books I haven't read. I love Bryson's stuff, the readability and charm of it. Good bedtime reading.

- Came home and tidied the lounge, then internetted a little, before sitting down to play some Xbox, then had a call from wifey. We were viewing a flat in Oakleigh Park at 5.30pm.

- Met Alex at Essex Road station and then went up to Oakleigh Park, which was very nice. Residential, so not a lot of shopping convenience, but quiet and with lots of nice terraced conversions. The flat itself wasn't anything to write home about: a ground floor conversion with two double bedrooms, it had lots of natural light and a (tiny) back garden, but just had a weird flow-through and a teeny tiny galley kitchen. Definitely an area we'll keep looking in, though.

- Met briefly with Debs for a drink, as she lives just around the corner from where we were looking. She has an amazing one-bedroom place with a good sized garden, so our requirements are certainly achievable on our budget in the area.

- Came home and ordered pizza, because we're bad. But the pizza was delicious, ordered from a place we haven't tried before. That's not really a good thing, considering losing weight is fast becoming my top priority.

- Watched True Blood, which is off to a silly start. That's not necessarily a bad thing, given that at this point in the first and second seasons we were about ready to chuck it in altogether.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Becaus I know you were wondering, yesterday I:
- Got up around 8-ish, and then me and Bruce (who had stayed over for an evening of Xbox and pizza) went up to Newington Green for a little brunch. Although I like to go to different places when possible, we generally end up at The Acoustic for Sunday breakfasts. Good food there.

- Came back and watched Clash of the Titans, which was a lot of fun. It was exactly the kind of trashy film I was hoping it to be (which, let's face it, is exactly the kind of trashy film the old Harryhausen flicks are). Plus I'm a little bit in love with Gemma Arterton, so that's no chore. Glad I saw it in 2-D, though. The post-process 3-D stuff just gives me a headache.

- Played a bit more Xbox. Split/Second Velocity, in case you're wondering. It's a car racing game that has a nice twist on the old combat mechanic. Basically, you are able to trigger events on the urban track ahead of you and your opponents, from lorries crashing onto the track, through mines dropping from helicopters, and even toppling buildings and crashing planes. It's a fast, exciting experience with the normal racing, but the combat mechanic really adds to it and feels quite fresh. By contrast, we also played Blur, which is like Project Gotham Racing crossed with Mario Kart. It's a nice idea, but doesn't really offer anything new. It also runs at what feels like a third again the speed of SSV, making it confusing as hell.

- Bruce wandered off, and I faffed about a little before heading off to see Predators. Disappointing, as I was hoping (based on reviews I was seeing) for a lean, fast-paced action film. Instead it meanders along through its running time with a languid start and one particularly unnecessary diversion along the way. It was still fun, but not the film I was hoping for.

- Came home, faffed a little more then watched Green Zone. It's a very effective thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed, but even one day later I feel like it's fading. It's the kind of film that in five years time I will forget even exists. Worth a watch, though.

- Found that Alex wasn't coming home, as she'd missed her last train from Wilmslow, so I broke out the coke and called in some hookers.

- Ahh...I mean, I had a bath, went to bed and read some comics. One notable one was Power Out, by Nathan Schreiber, which was originally serialized on the Act-i-vate website. Highly enjoyable coming of age story which operates on a pleasantly small scale. I liked it so much, I even emailed him to say so. So consider it recommended.

- And that's that! Hopefully more tomorrow, and maybe the next script as well!